Hospital discharge with ambulance

Hospital discharge with ambulance: what type of service is it?

Hospital discharge with ambulance is a patient transport service aimed at all citizens who, for one case or another, are unable to go independently to their home once the period of hospitalization in a hospital or health facility has ended.

There can be numerous disabling causes which put the patient in a position to request a professional transport service for discharge from the hospital by ambulance.

Let's take a look at some of them:

• Non self-sufficient patient at the time of discharge
• Persons not suitable for transport in a normal vehicle
• Patients in wheelchairs, both temporarily and permanently
• Elderly people or people suffering from serious chronic pathologies

In all these cases it is advisable to consult a professional for discharge from the hospital.

The transport of the patient, in fact, is carried out free of charge only in cases of proven emergencies. At this point the service is fully paid for by the National Health Service.

But there are numerous circumstances for which the costs of transport for hospital discharge by ambulance are charged directly to the user who requests it or who uses the service, if it is not the same subject. You can see the costs of private ambulances by following this link and visiting ambulanza.it , the Italian national portal dedicated to private ambulances.

Secondary transports – so defined when there is no real urgency – are regulated differently by regional regulations , and it is for this reason that it is always advisable to rely on a professional and request a private service for hospital discharges with ambulance.

Hospital discharge with ambulance, how to get the service?

Let's try to better understand how to get the transport service for hospital discharges with a private ambulance.

The patient admitted to a hospital, after having received all the necessary treatments and having carried out the required diagnostic tests, can go back to his home where, if necessary, he will continue the therapies under the indication of the medical team.

At this point, a series of documents is issued to the patient , such as any medical records , the first aid report, the results of the tests or diagnostic checks carried out and the medical prescriptions necessary to continue treatment at home (for example indications on drug intake or for post-hospitalization checks).

And it is at this point that the problem related to transport could arise : in the event of impossibility to return to one's home independently, it is possible to contact a professional company in the provision of the discharge service.

It is sufficient to be in possession of the letter of resignation (a document issued by the hospital ward and containing a clinical report on future behaviors to adopt) to be able to request the service .

The company specialized in hospital discharges with private ambulances will then identify the most suitable transport formula for the medical needs of the patient, ensuring prompt, effective and 100% safe intervention .

All means of transport and patient rescue are in fact equipped with the best health technologies , with a registered and certified trademark , overall with all the medical equipment necessary in the event of an emergency (for example the manual or semi-automatic defibrillator , for rapid cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

Hospital discharge with ambulance: here's what you should absolutely know before leaving the facility

Before being discharged from a hospital – and even before worrying about discharge – it is good for the patient to be sufficiently informed about their health rights.

In some cases, and we are talking above all about chronically ill or non self-sufficient patients , before leaving the ward where they are hospitalized, they must have performed all the diagnostic tests necessary to ascertain the clinical state of good health.

At this point, it will be the ASL or the NHS that will have to arrange for the hospital discharge with ambulance, possibly identifying a suitable structure , such as for example it could be a nursing home.

The problem linked to the scarce availability of hospital beds very often leads to a concrete and imminent need to free up the hospital wards , and at that point it may happen that the medical personnel do not provide complete information on discharges.

By relying on a professional, it will be possible to obtain all the information to better face both the discharge from the hospital and the months that follow the hospitalization.

To what extent is it possible to oppose hospital discharges?

If the patient is unable to return independently to his home, in this case the law allows him to refuse hospital discharge .

By accepting them, in fact, one assumes full responsibility for therapeutic continuity.

Before making such a decision, it is therefore advisable to consult a professional .

This is not only for hospital discharge with ambulance , but also to receive all the necessary health care in the period following hospitalization, which due to the numerous requests the NHS is not always able to guarantee .

The activation of the ADI (integrated home care), in fact, can prove to be a complex practice that is difficult to solve in a short time, and in the meantime the patient himself will have to bear all the foreseen medical expenses .

Who is entitled to the free ambulance discharge service?

But what are the cases in which it is possible to request the hospital discharge service with free ambulance?

According to the provisions of the law , the transport of patients for hospital discharge by ambulance is paid by the NHS only in some special cases .

In particular we talk about:

• Bedridden or stretchered patients
• Non-ambulatory subjects (temporary or permanent state) and not self-sufficient
• Patients who cannot be transported on any other type of vehicle
• Medical or healthcare service within 30 days following hospitalization
• Patients suffering from cancer for the execution of a cycle of chemo or radiotherapy
• ADI users
• Subjects with particular conditions of social or economic hardship
• Patients in nursing homes affiliated with or managed by the NHS
• Patients in a vegetative state and patients in hospices or similar structures

For any other transport needs other than the cases indicated above, the cost of the service is charged to the citizen .

There are several associations that operate in the private ambulance transport sector , and it is always a good idea to contact a professional to obtain a speedy and effective service .

Reliability and professionalism are the key words to the success of a company specialized in hospital discharges with ambulances and which can boast many years of experience in the field.

Which categories are therefore excluded from the free hospital discharge service with ambulance?

We have seen that the ambulance is a free service for the user only if there are real emergencies and the patient's clinical conditions do not allow transport on another type of vehicle.

For all other cases, therefore , the cost of the hospital discharge service with ambulance is charged to the beneficiary citizen , and regulated both on a national and regional level.

The patient is therefore required to share the payment of the transport when:

• The conditions of emergency or urgency necessary to request the free service do not exist
• The intervention is different from the medical indications given to the patient (for example voluntary resignation)
• The patient's clinical picture is stable and allows autonomous hospital discharges
• The patient refuses the ambulance intervention but requests the service again shortly after
• The patient does not have his own means of transport or has no family or relatives to contact
• The user is in a disadvantaged economic condition but still enjoys good health

In these cases we speak of secondary medical transport , and it is the patient who has to bear the cost.

For this reason it is advisable to contact a professional company and rely on them for discharge from the hospital.

In this way, a targeted, effective and safe service will be reserved for the patient, delivered in a very short time and with the guarantee of a highly qualified and professional medical team always ready to intervene in cases of urgency or emergency.

Hospital discharge with private ambulance, how is patient assistance guaranteed?

Returning to one's home after a more or less long period spent in the hospital is one of the most eagerly awaited news by patients hospitalized in health facilities.

Being able to regain possession of one's spaces and one's daily life becomes a reason for great joy: it will be possible to live in a more serene and comfortable climate and, moreover, be able to embrace one's loved ones or family members again.

But not all hospitalized patients then have the opportunity to leave the hospital fully recovered .

And this is where the hospital discharge service comes into play , in support of all those people who are fragile or in conditions of discomfort, unable to return to their homes independently.

We are talking, for example, of terminal stage cancer patients who decide on a voluntary basis to spend the last months of their lives at home.

For a subject in such conditions it is very important to organize the resignation well , but not only!

You will need a series of treatments for which turning to a professional company can be an excellent solution: the medical staff will accompany the patient during all the necessary movements , considerably reducing travel stress and ensuring accurate monitoring of vital parameters during transport.

Another case is the elderly . After a hospital stay – especially in the case of bedridden or non-ambulatory patients – it will be essential to ensure their safe return .

Discharges by a professional aim to ensure transport on adequate means, limiting any sudden and degenerative collapses in the patient.

Patients in precarious health conditions necessarily need to be transported by ambulance, often made impossible by the high number of requests and the scarce availability of emergency vehicles .

The professional company in private ambulance transport collaborates directly with the hospital itself, through which it will be easier to organize the return home.

We therefore recommend that you request a free consultation in order to evaluate, together with an expert technician, the best intervention formula based on the patient's personal needs.

Hospital discharge with ambulance for post-operative patients

Transportation to hospital discharge by ambulance is a fundamental service for all those patients who have recently undergone surgery .

An operation can in fact turn out to be a very complex intervention , followed by a long and difficult convalescence.

Even for day hospital operations, the patient is often unable to leave the hospital on his own a few hours after the surgery , mainly due to physical pain , but also due to the partial impossibility of using the area normally. just attended.

Think of patients with stitches and limb injuries who are unlikely to be able to drive their own car or sit in a normal vehicle.

For them it is very important to plan a safe return , taking advantage of the private transport service, aimed at guaranteeing the patient's safety during travel.

Based on the type of surgery undergone and the patient's health conditions, the professional company prepares the most suitable transport formula for the discharge of the individual patient.

In some cases total immobility of the patient is required (for spinal injuries, for example) or an elderly patient is treated, slower in the healing process and in therapeutic support, therefore subject to sudden worsening of health conditions.

The phase of the return journey home can therefore be very dangerous : the resignation only certifies that the intervention was successful , but does not prevent any aggravations .

The patient must therefore be able to travel safely , under the supervision of an expert and highly trained medical team to deal with any type of health emergency.

How much does the hospital discharge service with ambulance cost?

The professional hospital discharge service with ambulance usually has a cost .

Stable a unique and standardized figure in this sense is almost impossible : the cost for hospital discharge with ambulance can vary according to individual situations and especially the Regions. For example, the ambulance per kilometer rate in Naples will certainly be lower than the rates in Milan.

However, there are a number of indicative expenses , through which it is possible to get an idea – albeit approximate – of the expense to be faced.

Some of these rates are fixed costs .

Let's talk for example of the " exit cost ", which corresponds to the call of the vehicle (regardless of the kilometers to be traveled and the time spent), and for discharge from the hospital with an ambulance it is on average around 20 – 30 euros.

But the factor that most affects the final estimate is certainly the mileage rate.

In this case, the total number of kilometers traveled is calculated by including all vehicle movement operations, and not only transport home but also the journey to reach the hospital to pick up the patient and the journey necessary for the vehicle to return to the company.

In general, the kilometer rates in Italy for the discharge service fluctuate between 0.80 cents and 1.50 euros per kilometre , depending on the type of vehicle needed (ambulance, medical vehicle or medical taxi).